Chapter 14 - Methods of Isolation and Culture of Adult Stem Cells

Abstract

The advances in the methods of isolation and in vitro or ex vivo manipulation of stem cells that have been taking place in the past few decades have changed the perspectives in the field of regenerative medicine. These methods have allowed for the understanding that almost all tissues contain primitive cells that are able to give rise to mature, tissue-specific cells. In addition, the feasibility of generation of specialized cell types in vitro creates the perspective that cells lost owing to pathological processes or accidents can be replaced by cells produced from these primitive cells. The natural path for tissue reconstruction would be isolating and manipulating stem cells to obtain mature cells. The relative numbers of stem cells in different tissues are intrinsically low, which calls for their expansion in vitro before differentiation so that an adequate number of mature cells are yielded. Consequently, different methodologies focus on the in vitro expansion of stem cells. Although many studies have established that stem cells are present in almost all, it is not always easy to recognize these cells. The most important advance in the identification of stem cells is the development of monoclonal antibody technology, which allows reproducible detection of molecules present on different types of live cells. Various other approaches and techniques are discussed later that immensely contribute to the isolation and culture of various kinds of stem cells.